Thursday, 14 October 2010

BOO!! Its Shape and Place again

This is slightly carrying on from Penny's post, but Ive always enjoyed Tim Burton's films, particularly the animated ones, and this scene from Corpse Bride shows off the beautifully constructed scenery and painstaking animation.

Each part of the scene is intricately crafted with an amazing amount of care and detail, it could almost be real, where it not made from what it is made from. (Although when thinking about it, it is real, the actual set was made as if it were a life-size set.) Some elements are made with CGI but they blend seamlessly with the crafted elements creating a clear idea of space and place.

Its also worth thinking about the filming. Tim Burton uses stop-motion animation, but looking at the smooth camera sweeps and particularly the scenes towards the end, its hard to come to terms with the idea that its composed of thousands of still images strung together.

Apart from the fact that its done with still images, the effect is identical to the regular kind of filming. The camera man still has to get in there and zoom out as the scene pans out, and so too does he have to move the camera along a track like he would when filming any sequence.

It kinda gives a new dimension to the idea of shape and place, to think about the 'actor' moving around in the entirely constructed scenery as well as the camera men, even though its all only a few inches tall and made from plasticine etc.